Peanut cleaner



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s t e e h S 3 N 0 S N H 0 J J m d 0 M 0 PEANUT CLEANER. w No. 311,494. Patented Feb. 3, '1885.

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J. JOHNSON. PEANUT CLEANER.

No. 311,494; Pate ted Feb. 3, 1885.

WITNESS (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

J. JOHNSON. PEANUT CLEANER.

No .311,494. PatentedFeb.3,1885.

Jv'yri TF'YTJVESSES JJWE TOR UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEE JoHNSoN, on NORFOLK, VIRGINlA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HOLLOW'AY r. EMBURY, or SAME PLACE.

PEANUT-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,494, dated February 3, 1885.

Application filed April 15, 1884. (No model.) i I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEE JOHNSON, of Norfolk, in the county ofNorfolk and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Peanut-Cleaners; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to machines for cleaning, scouring, and separating peanuts; and it consists in certain improvements in the construction of the same, having for their object to produce a device which shall possess superior advantages in point of'simpiic'ity, durasectional view taken through the feed-hopper on the line wxin Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 3 y in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail longitudinal sectional view taken through one of the side ducts of the fancase. Fig. 5 is a detail longitudinal Sectional view of a small portion of the scouring screen, showing the construction of the same; and Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken through one of the spiders ofthe same.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures. f

In the annexed drawings, A designatesa box or casing,which is constructed with a horizontal partition or floor, B, and provided with doors 0 D B, arranged, respectively, at one side and end of the casing. The ends of the casing are provided with bearings E for the shaft F of a scouring and screening cylinder, G, which is constructed of longitudinal slats H, rigidly connected to spiders I,which latter consist of arms J, secured to the shaft F in any suitable manner. I 7

Attached to the slats H are a series of metallic bands or hoops, K K, which are made laterally adjustable by means of slots L, formed in said hoops, so as to receive the shanks of attaching-bolts M, by loosening the nuts on which-the hoops can be adjusted to any desired position.

At the frontend of the casing A is placed a TlTe fan-case has an opening, N through its bottom,which leads into the blast-chute S,and the open ends of this fan-case communicate by means of side ducts, R, and side spaces. with thclower compartmentof the casing. The fancase also communicates with the upper compartment of the casing, above the cylinder G,

by means of the blast-chute S, the upper extension of the board S serving to prevent the nuts from being carried over into the upper compartment by the blast. By means of the fan and the side air-ducts above described, the dust, &c., separated from the peanuts is drawn from the lower compartment and the cylinder G up into the fan-case and forced'out at the opening N andthrough the passage S into the upper compartment, the lighter particles being driven therefrom through a pipe, P". As the nuts fall from the hopper they 'pass through the lower part, S,of the chute S,

which. directs them into the cylinder G, as

above stated. This lower part, S, of the chute is detachable from the upper portion, and it is supported upon a table, T, so that it may be removed from the casing, as will be "hereinafter explained. The bearings of the cylinder-shaft F are formed in cross-beams U U, which are mortised into the uprights of the casing at one side thereof, and confined at the other side of the casing to uprights bymeans of plates V and blocks W. By opening a side door, B, and removing the blocks W, the beams U U and the cylinder can be removed from the easing, together wit-h the portion S of the blastchute. The hoops K of the cylinder-G are arranged at certain distances apart from the loo front end thereof to about the point indicated by letter 20, when they are set at somewhat greater distances apart toward the rear end of the cylinder G, and under such wider spaces is located a pan, X, for the reception of the nuts. The floor of the casing near the rear is provided with an opening, Z, through which some of the nuts pass, being directed through the same by means of a guide, A,which is secured to the floor of the casing. The trough A is inclined, and as the cylinder G revolves and carries along with it the nuts they will be moved into the said trough and conducted out of the casing, as seen in Fig. 1. the side door, B, of the casing more or less, the draft through the same can be controlled as circumstances require. The opening left at the front of the casing for withdrawing the front end of the scourer-shaft is closed during the operation of the machine by a strip, 0', which may be' removed when desired.

The operation of the machine is briefly as follows: The unclean peanuts are placed in the hopper and the cylinder G and feed-roller Q are putin motion by any suitable means. The nuts and foreign matters drop down into the feed-chute and thence into the cylinder G at its front end. I11 passing through the cylinder the nuts are gradually scoured, the dirt and other foreign substances passing between the narrow-spaced hoops K, and a large quantity of the nuts passing through the wider-apertured part of the cylinder, while the remainder of the nuts will be conducted off through the guide or trough A. The lighter pOItions or chatf and dust are carried off through the fan-case by the draft and discharged through the opening N chute S, the upper compartment of the casing, and the pipe P". The heavier foreign substances will remain in the lower and upper compartments, and can be readily removed through their respective door By opening.

openings. By making the hoops K laterally adjustable the size of the spaces between them may be regulated as desired. In practice I shall provide each end of the fan-case N with a slide, Y, for regulating the induction of air into this case from the lower compartment of the casing.

I do not under this application claim,broadly, a peanut scourer and screen constructed of separate strips and arranged in a casing under the influence of a draft of air, as such adevice is shown and described in my application for Letters Patent the serial number of which is 127,973.

Having described my invention, I claim as ne w- 1. In a peanut-cleaner, the combination of a casing having an upper and a lower compartment, a rotary scour-ing-cylinder, afan located near the mouth of the hopper, side passages leading into the apertured fan-ease, and a passage crossing the mouth of the hopper and leading into the upper compartment of the casing, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the casing, the scouring-cylinder and its shaft, removable from the casing, the removable chute S, the table T, the removable beams U U', andthe casing-door B, substantially as described.

The combination of a fan, a fan-case having end openings and an opening, N, a casing having passages S R, the chute S, the hopper, the upper and lower compartments, and a cylinder adapted to scour peanuts, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEE JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses:

F. O. MCOLEARY, W. R. KEYWORTH. 

